Jamie watched Haru, fascinated by how much strength he was able to cover up by simply slipping on a shirt. They were cooling down in the locker room after training on the field, although Jamie was quite sure Haru had only called it training to trick him into some frivolous racing games.

‘Your princess and her friends. Sometimes at lunch and during free periods I cannot find you anywhere.’ Haru glanced over from where he was pulling his tie into position, his heavily lashed brown eyes as comforting as hot chocolate. ‘It’s like you vanish into thin air.’

His gaze was soft, his tone sweet, and, despite what Jamie had seen he was capable of, he didn’t seem like a Partizan at all.

‘We’ve all been through a lot. We like to keep to ourselves,’ Jamie replied, avoiding any mention of Lottie’s hidden study.

‘Do you talk about Leviathan?’

Jamie’s head caught in his T-shirt, leaving him stuck in the fabric until Haru’s hands carefully pulled it into position. It made him feel like a child, and angry heat bloomed in his cheeks at the intrusive question and the patronizing gesture, yet he didn’t leave.

‘Why are you worrying about something that doesn’t concern you?’ he asked instead, the words coming out harshly in his embarrassment. ‘And why have you come to Rosewood?’

‘I worry about anything that causes you or your master trouble, Jamie-kun,’ Haru said, calling him by the pet name he’d used in Japan. ‘Your well-being is important too.’

When Haru smiled up at him from tying his shoes, Jamie’s boundaries instantly dissolved. It felt like Haru could melt away any misgivings he ever had like butter in the sun. It worked every time and soon he found himself following Haru through the corridors, away from the gym, to Dame Bolter’s office, alone with him again.

When they had learned that Haru was taking a sabbatical at Rosewood, Jamie had been filled with confusion. Partizans were allowed them once they reached the age of twenty, and subsequently every five years after, but all the Partizans he knew of turned them down. It simply wasn’t the done thing. He kept thinking of Haru’s master, Sayuri. Perhaps they weren’t close; perhaps Haru was planning to quit being a Partizan altogether. It was as if he treated his position as nothing more than a job that he was free to leave at any moment. Jamie couldn’t imagine being so casual about his own vocation to protect Ellie. It was Haru’s apathy that fascinated him so much. But was it apathy or something else – something more dangerous?